“Are you all right, Mitras?” Athena asked.

  “I can recover with the ichor I still have—I don’t need ambrosia,” Mitras replied as he descended toward the mountains to rest. “But I don’t know if Sol is all right.”

  The three gods descended into the mountains, where they found Sol unconscious, a massive gash across his back. Shaushka’s attack had drained all of his ichor.

  “Give him some of your ambrosia, Athena. I still have disciples to attend to,” Horus said sharply.

  “Fine, fine,” Athena replied as she poured a small amount of ambrosia onto Sol’s wound. Instantly, it closed, and the god regained consciousness.

  “Where… wh—where am I? What happened?” Sol asked as he pushed himself up.

  “You’re fine now, Sol. Good job,” Athena said, giving him a thumbs-up.

  “M-Master Athena… Master Horus… I’m glad t-to see you,” the blond god replied.

  Suddenly, the sky darkened—even though they were still under Sol’s perpetual sunlight—and Ares’s face appeared across the heavens in deep crimson hues, terrifying and sinister.

  “Sister, welcome to Mars. I’ve been waiting for you,” said the war god’s projection.

  “We don’t need your tutorials, Ares. My staff was just about to brief me on the situation,” Athena replied dismissively, waving her hand as if to shoo him away.

  “Always with the sarcasm, sister. But now I’ll tell you the depressing part,” Ares continued.

  “What the hell are you planning, Ares?” Horus demanded.

  “As you can see, this dimension reads the sum of all divine energies present. Time flows relative to the average of that sum. Every time you raise your power—even for a millionth of a second—that fraction accelerates time drastically due to your absurd strength. At this moment, you have less than five hours to rescue your precious malakim—thanks entirely to that girl who has lost control of her power,” Ares said with a macabre smile.

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  “Then we calm her down and use minimal power. Simple enough,” Horus replied.

  “Less than an hour will suffice,” Athena added, cracking her neck with a bored expression.

  “Oh, one more thing,” Ares said casually. “Anpiel is being guarded by a chronoxiphos. No matter where he runs or hides, the blade will pursue him and pierce his heart the moment time runs out. The only way to deactivate it is to defeat me.”

  “So—find Areopagus and kick Ares’s ass,” Athena said. “How long would that take you, Horus?”

  “The hard part is finding Areopagus. After that? Ten or twelve minutes,” Horus shrugged.

  “I can do it in five,” Athena said challengingly.

  “And I’ll do it in two!” Horus shot back.

  “Then I’ll find Areopagus and defeat Ares in one minute,” Athena snapped, leaning in close.

  “Fine. Let’s see if you can do it in under a minute. Whoever brings back that weakling’s head first wins,” Horus said, pressing his forehead against hers.

  “Hey! Are you just going to ignore me again?” Ares protested.

  “Shut up!” Athena and Horus shouted in unison.

  “So, what are we betting, Athena?” Horus asked.

  “The winner—meaning me—becomes the master of the loser—meaning you—for a full week,” Athena said with a smug grin.

  “Oh? So eager to be my slave? You’ll wear erotic outfits while serving me,” Horus shot back.

  “Oh really? Then you’ll wear nothing but a loincloth that leaves little to the imagination—and you’ll kiss my feet while I walk barefoot all week,” Athena retorted.

  The two gods continued arguing, foreheads still pressed together.

  “Oh, come on… just kiss already,” Mitras thought, unimpressed.

  “If you keep wasting time, you won’t save your friend,” Ares interrupted, clearing his throat.

  “He’s right. Time to look for this Areopagus,” Horus said.

  “Go ahead. I’ll be waiting. My strongest Keres are eager to face you,” Ares said, laughing maniacally.

  “How cliché. The evil laugh,” Athena scoffed.

  Ares grimaced and cut the transmission. The sky returned to normal under Sol’s light.

  “Mitras, take this ambrosia and give it to my disciples,” Horus said, tossing him a small vial.

  “I’ll go south—you go north,” Athena told Horus. He nodded.

  “Wait a moment!” Mitras called out.

  “Charge!” Horus shouted.

  “W-wait!” Sol tried to protest.

  “Alalalalalalalalala!” Athena shouted as she bolted off.

  Both gods vanished at full speed, racing across the mountains in opposite directions.

  “I didn’t even get to tell them that Areopagus is actually that way…” Mitras muttered, disappointed.

  “They a-always do whatever they want,” Sol replied.

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